The Collaborative English SMILE FAQ -- Revived once more!

Edit history:

FirePhoenix: 2008-10-12 02:05:33 pm

2008-03-17 11:14:36 pm

10/12/08 UPDATE: Attached the most current revision of the SMILE FAQ to this post and updated the project members.

8/26/08 EDIT: We're at it again! Let's try this once more. We have a new file now to work with. Check this post for details!

------------------
A while back there was a collaborative effort by some of the members of the SM Hacking community to write an actual English SMILE FAQ. The project got off to a slow start, encountered a few hitches and somehow I became the owner of the FAQ and creation of the file picked up until we just stopped work on it. Well after three months of inactivity on the file, I've decided two things.

First, I'm releasing what is currently done on the file. There's a lot on basic SMILE functions right now and a few of the more advanced topics covered. It's a WIP so there are creator notes and to-do lists still in the file. Hopefully this can be somewhat helpful to those still learning basic SMILE.

Second, I'm putting a call out to the members of the community to give some assistance to the file. An English SMILE FAQ would greatly benefit us all. Plus with each person knowing different aspects of editing Super Metroid, we can have some users covering more advanced sections and others doing the more basic ones.

So how would you be able to help us out? First, let me know here that you want to help us out. I want to be able to keep tabs on the members working on it. I will also be able to keep the password secret from anyone who decides to be a jerk and wreck the file. For this reason, I'll also be keeping regular back-ups of the file on my own computer. If you decide to join, I'll PM you the password. There is no password anymore.

Second you need to download Moonedit, a collaborative online notepad program. It can be found here: http://moonedit.com/indexen.htm Once you have Moonedit, you must join the romhacking server by entering the server address and port.

The server address is: 213.239.193.176
The server port is: 6918

Once in, double click the file labeled SMILE_FAQ. ~~If you're a member of the team I'll have given you the password.~~ (no more password) Once inside the file, you can choose a section you want to edit and then all you need to do is edit it in. When you're done adding to a section, put your name/username initials inside the ~[]~ next to the section header. If there is more than one person in that section, add your name next to theirs, separating their name from yours with a |.

Hopefully we'll be able to create a complete FAQ. ~~I've attached the current FAQ at the bottom of this post for general reference. It will be updated every once in a while.~~ Removed for now.

[hr]
AS OF 10/12/08 Team members:

Acheron86
playerman1230
Crys
squishy_ichigo
PJBoy
[hr]

Thread title:

[size=14pt]10/12/08 UPDATE:  Attached the most current revision of the SMILE FAQ to this post and updated the project members.

8/26/08 EDIT: We're at it again!  Let's try this once more.  We have a new file now to work with.  Check [url=http://forum.metroid2002.com/index.php/topic,7129.msg221489.html#msg221489]this[/url] post for details![/size]

------------------
A while back there was a collaborative effort by some of the members of the SM Hacking community to write an actual English SMILE FAQ.  The project got off to a slow start, encountered a few hitches and somehow I became the owner of the FAQ and creation of the file picked up until we just stopped work on it.  Well after three months of inactivity on the file, I've decided two things.

First, I'm releasing what is currently done on the file.  There's a lot on basic SMILE functions right now and a few of the more advanced topics covered.  It's a WIP so there are creator notes and to-do lists still in the file.  Hopefully this can be somewhat helpful to those still learning basic SMILE.

Second, I'm putting a call out to the members of the community to give some assistance to the file.  An English SMILE FAQ would greatly benefit us all.  Plus with each person knowing different aspects of editing Super Metroid, we can have some users covering more advanced sections and others doing the more basic ones.

So how would you be able to help us out?  First, let me know here that you want to help us out.  I want to be able to keep tabs on the members working on it.  [s]I will also be able to keep the password secret from anyone who decides to be a jerk and wreck the file.  For this reason, I'll also be keeping regular back-ups of the file on my own computer.  If you decide to join, I'll PM you the password.[/s]  There is no password anymore.

Second you need to download Moonedit, a collaborative online notepad program.  It can be found here:  [url=http://moonedit.com/indexen.htm]http://moonedit.com/indexen.htm[/url]  Once you have Moonedit, you must join the romhacking server by entering the server address and port.

The server address is:  213.239.193.176
The server port is:  6918

Once in, double click the file labeled SMILE_FAQ.  [s]If you're a member of the team I'll have given you the password.[/s] (no more password) Once inside the file, you can choose a section you want to edit and then all you need to do is edit it in.  When you're done adding to a section, put your name/username initials inside the ~[]~ next to the section header.  If there is more than one person in that section, add your name next to theirs, separating their name from yours with a |.

Hopefully we'll be able to create a complete FAQ.  [s]I've attached the current FAQ at the bottom of this post for general reference.  It will be updated every once in a while.[/s] Removed for now.

[hr]
AS OF 10/12/08  Team members:

Acheron86
playerman1230
Crys
squishy_ichigo
PJBoy
[hr]

attachment:

SMILE_FAQ_V2.txt

Acheron

2008-03-17 11:24:49 pm

Acclaimed Threshold

Constant Sorrows

I can help out with some of these, particularly anything on the hex-editing side of SMILE. Don't ask me to do any ASM, though. : P

Fano7

2008-03-18 05:38:21 am

Every Bit Counts

I would help, but I know so much stuff and dont know how to explain it all.

uNsane

2008-03-18 06:24:53 am

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Quote from Fano7:

I would help, but I know so much stuff and dont know how to explain it all.

Start with the most basic stuff you can add, then continually build upon that. That's pretty much how I wrote my ZF/DH help file (that and just going into each tab on ZF and explaining the stuff inside).

FirePhoenix

2008-03-18 04:13:42 pm

Fano, if you can't explain a section fully, explain what you know and leave a note that the section isn't finished yet so someone else can come back later to finish it.

Now, Fano and uNsane, if you want to help out make it clear so I know to send you a PM.

uNsane

2008-03-18 04:31:34 pm

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

No, I definitely don't want to join. I've never even so much as downloaded SMILE. Maybe I should...

Fano7

2008-03-18 04:47:32 pm

Every Bit Counts

I'll be glad to help, but I'd rather write something for a section, but not create the section.

Well, here's a bit for helping with poitners:

You first want to learn hex and mabey binary (I did). The easiest way to do that is to ask on #jzd. Next, you need to get a hex editor. There are many of them. I reccomend XVI32 (google it). It's free, and easy to use. Then you should get Jathy's bank buddy program, it's of great use. It allows you to find where a bank begins and ends. By the way, it's best to use a unheadered ROM, as it's less confusing that way. To know which pointer to change, you need to look at what you want to do. I'll just go through the list. Level Data is your level design for the room. Re-point that if you need more space for tileing. FX1: use if the FX1 is red and you want to change it. Enemy Population + Enemy Set: Change if you want to add enemies to a room. Scroll: I don't actually know. Unknown1/RoomVar: I dont know. FX2: I don't know. PLM: Change if you want to add PLM's to rooms. Rest: I don't know. To find free space (which you need to change pointers), you need to look for a bunch of FF's. Now, most pointers require a certian bank. Jathys's Bank Buddy helps alot for this. For most pointers (well everything besides level data), you need to take the last 4 units of the address, and put them in SMILE. if it's under $8000 ($ = hex), just and $8000 to it. For example, if you had $7FDC, it would become $FFDC. If you changed the PLM pointer, you have lose all the PLM's that were in the room. Why? Because there's no PLM stuff in free space. So you can add all the PLM's you want. There's a limit of 50 if IIRC.

Need me to go more in depth FirePhoenix0?

I'll be glad to help, but I'd rather write something for a section, but not create the section.

Well, here's a bit for helping with poitners:

You first want to learn hex and mabey binary (I did). The easiest way to do that is to ask on #jzd. Next, you need to get a hex editor. There are many of them. I reccomend XVI32 (google it). It's free, and easy to use. Then you should get [url=http://jathys.zophar.net/files/bankbuddy.exe]Jathy's bank buddy program[/url], it's of great use. It allows you to find where a bank begins and ends. By the way, it's best to use a unheadered ROM, as it's less confusing that way. To know which pointer to change, you need to look at what you want to do. I'll just go through the list. Level Data is your level design for the room. Re-point that if you need more space for tileing. FX1: use if the FX1 is red and you want to change it. Enemy Population + Enemy Set: Change if you want to add enemies to a room. Scroll: I don't actually know. Unknown1/RoomVar: I dont know. FX2: I don't know. PLM: Change if you want to add PLM's to rooms. Rest: I don't know. To find free space (which you need to change pointers), you need to look for a bunch of FF's. Now, most pointers require a certian bank. Jathys's Bank Buddy helps alot for this. For most pointers (well everything besides level data), you need to take the last 4 units of the address, and put them in SMILE. if it's under $8000 ($ = hex), just and $8000 to it. For example, if you had $7FDC, it would become $FFDC. If you changed the PLM pointer, you have lose all the PLM's that were in the room. Why? Because there's no PLM stuff in free space. So you can add all the PLM's you want. There's a limit of 50 if IIRC.

Need me to go more in depth FirePhoenix0?

P.JMan

2008-03-18 05:39:56 pm

I like Big Butts and I can not lie

PM me the password (or come onto #jzd!!)

FirePhoenix

2008-03-18 11:12:09 pm

PMs have been sent out to those who have offered to help and the first post is currently being updated with the team members.

Crys

2008-03-19 11:27:05 am

Green-Kirby, ROAR!

I will help this project! I may not do much, Or maybe nothing att all. But I will try!
SM hacking here needs to get a bit more focused!

Acheron

2008-03-19 12:25:04 pm

Acclaimed Threshold

Constant Sorrows

The moonedit download file isn't very big, but for some reason it always stalls out at 97%/98% for me. I've tried proxies and mirrors and always get the same problem. Can someone attach it to a post, please? Is that doable?

FirePhoenix

2008-03-19 01:56:28 pm

Do you mean the setup file? It's only 244 KBs big so that's why it's small. As for why it's not finishing for you, I don't know why that would happen. Let me see if I can attach it for you.

It's attached at the bottom of the post. Download it and run it to install the program.

attachment:

mesetup.exe

Acheron

2008-03-19 02:24:11 pm

Acclaimed Threshold

Constant Sorrows

Thanks, that link worked. I don't know why the regular one wouldn't, but whatever. Gonna start adding to it now.

Crys

2008-03-20 10:31:52 am

Green-Kirby, ROAR!

FP, Copy past what's in the FAQ and post it as a topic here on M2K2. And update it from time to time when new stuff have been added.
Otherwise no one can actually use it! :P

FirePhoenix

2008-03-20 11:16:39 am

I've thought about that but it is quite massive. Granted, if I get rid of the text art headers it would a be a bit less but still, we're only about halfway done and it's huge. As of now though, there is a (slightly outdated now) copy of the faq attached to the first post.

FirePhoenix

2008-03-22 03:15:02 pm

Well progress has been going well since this thread was posted. Acheron86 added to a lot of the more intermediate to advanced level sections. Green-Kirby also added to some sections and is also creating a guide to room design that will be added at the end of the file when it is done. We still need participants, mostly for more advanced sections but there are still a few easier sections that need filling in. I will be posting up a newer version of the FAQ soon.

If you're interested in helping us out, send me a PM and I'll give you the password. :D

Fano7

2008-03-22 09:13:30 pm

Every Bit Counts

I'm not going to put anything in the doc, to busy to do that. but if you need info on something, just ask here or PM me.

Acheron

2008-08-26 02:03:40 pm

Acclaimed Threshold

Constant Sorrows

"Back from the dead, it's the MoonEdit topic."

This project is a very important part of hacking and I want to see if we can get it revived, assuming FP is still around/is hosting the server still. We need to flesh out the missing parts of the guide and put it up on a website, there's far too much useful knowledge in there to let it go to waste.

playerman1230

2008-08-26 02:35:49 pm

Hated by all

I can help fill in some of the gaps in Beginner/Intermediate (unless they can be covered in a flash already).

FirePhoenix

2008-08-26 05:16:45 pm

Hello! I'm still here and have the file. I'm not hosting it, but the server should still be up.

I agree, this really should be completed, or at the least completed in a manner which it can be used as a beginner SMILE FAQ.

IMPORTANT: I've just created a new file for the FAQ because the old one was really old and outdated, plus it was password-protected. This new old is the file called SMILE_FAQ_V2. I want anyone with SMILE knowledge to be able to add their own advice and help to the file so that meant no more password. Please feel free to join the server and help. The server information is still in the first post.

Crys

2008-08-26 05:25:43 pm

Green-Kirby, ROAR!

Note: Don't mess with the green-kirby part. It's still WIP. But it is basicly a list of things not to do. I did write this up a while back. I will keep adding stuff for it from time to time.

Acheron

2008-08-26 05:36:40 pm

Acclaimed Threshold

Constant Sorrows

Quote from FirePhoenix0:

Hello! I'm still here and have the file. I'm not hosting it, but the server should still be up.

I agree, this really should be completed, or at the least completed in a manner which it can be used as a beginner SMILE FAQ.

IMPORTANT: I've just created a new file for the FAQ because the old one was really old and outdated, plus it was password-protected. This new old is the file called SMILE_FAQ_V2. I want anyone with SMILE knowledge to be able to add their own advice and help to the file so that meant no more password. Please feel free to join the server and help. The server information is still in the first post.

Good to hear it. Aegis is taking the bulk of my time but I will add to it as I'm able.

A bit off-topic but as long as I have you here: are you still working on that hack? It really looked great.

Xaggoth

2008-08-26 05:48:43 pm

Decided I'd have a look at this to see if there was anything I could add, but there doesn't seem to be an entire file uploaded on SMILE_FAQ_V2? I can only see up to section 1.3 and I'm confused.

FirePhoenix

2008-08-26 06:28:11 pm

Quote from Acheron86:

Quote from FirePhoenix0:

Hello! I'm still here and have the file. I'm not hosting it, but the server should still be up.

I agree, this really should be completed, or at the least completed in a manner which it can be used as a beginner SMILE FAQ.

IMPORTANT: I've just created a new file for the FAQ because the old one was really old and outdated, plus it was password-protected. This new old is the file called SMILE_FAQ_V2. I want anyone with SMILE knowledge to be able to add their own advice and help to the file so that meant no more password. Please feel free to join the server and help. The server information is still in the first post.

Good to hear it. Aegis is taking the bulk of my time but I will add to it as I'm able.

A bit off-topic but as long as I have you here: are you still working on that hack? It really looked great.

Off-topic: I still am, on and off. I didn't get much time to work on it during the summer though... It's not too much more than what I've shown recently, but there's progress.

On-Topic: The reason is that Moonedit only allows so much coyp and paste at a time, and I forgot about that. I thought that I'd finished adding everything in one paste, and closed the window not realizing it. Acheron just added the rest.

[quote="Acheron86"]
[quote="FirePhoenix0"]
Hello!  I'm still here and have the file.  I'm not hosting it, but the server should still be up.

I agree, this really should be completed, or at the least completed in a manner which it can be used as a beginner SMILE FAQ.

IMPORTANT: I've just created a new file for the FAQ because the old one was really old and outdated, plus it was password-protected.  This new old is the file called SMILE_FAQ_V2.  I want anyone with SMILE knowledge to be able to add their own advice and help to the file so that meant no more password.  Please feel free to join the server and help.   The server information is still in the first post.
[/quote]

Good to hear it. Aegis is taking the bulk of my time but I will add to it as I'm able.

A bit off-topic but as long as I have you here: are you still working on that hack? It really looked great.
[/quote]
Off-topic: I still am, on and off.  I didn't get much time to work on it during the summer though...  It's not too much more than what I've shown recently, but there's progress.

On-Topic:  The reason is that Moonedit only allows so much coyp and paste at a time, and I forgot about that.  I thought that I'd finished adding everything in one paste, and closed the window not realizing it.  Acheron just added the rest.

Acheron

2008-08-26 06:30:50 pm

Acclaimed Threshold

Constant Sorrows

Quote from FirePhoenix0:

On-Topic: The reason is that Moonedit only allows so much coyp and paste at a time, and I forgot about that. I thought that I'd finished adding everything in one paste, and closed the window not realizing it. Acheron just added the rest.

Definitely got sidetracked talking about what makes girls attractive in IRC (there's no way that conversation ISN'T a distraction ever) but I will finish fixing the file now. Should look good in about five-ten minutes.